Starting with SSS-rank talent, I contracted the Forbidden Ferocity.

Shen Ye looked at the broken pen.

The brushstrokes are grayish-white.

There is no ink.

But when it was suspended in front of the coffin, the entire Shenming Lake seemed to turn into a sheet of paper.

The lake water is paper.

The Stele Forest is made of paper.

Even ten thousand afterimages are just paper.

The second person stood on the gray-white coffin, speaking very softly.

"Take a penny from me."

"I'll take a penny from you."

The broken pen fell half an inch.

The gray mark between Shen Ye's brows suddenly felt hot.

A system notification popped up instantly.

[WARNING: The "Broken Pen Burial" is establishing rules for pen-based warfare.]

[If the host's sword strike is judged as a stroke of the pen, the host's final name will be updated accordingly.]

[Current target: Night King Shen Ye.]

Beneath the lake's surface, a gray-white stone tablet slowly rose.

There are already two characters on the stele.

Shen Ye.

The ink was not yet dry.

It looks like someone just wrote it down.

As Nightfeather spread its wings, the Black Sun Netherfire roared into action.

Zhu Jiu looked up from the shadows, his vertical pupils icy cold.

Long Yuan clenched his fist, and his bone armor cracked.

The Heavenly Punishment Eyes on Jie Chen's forehead were half-open.

Gui Xu stared at the broken pen and whispered:

"Bad road."

Shen Ye did not immediately draw his sword.

The second seat looked at him.

"Scared?"

Shen Ye said, "You want to turn my sword into your pen."

The second seat was filled with laughter.

"A sword falling on my name is but a stroke of the pen."

"The sword that strikes me is also the stroke of a pen."

"Shen Ye, you came to Shenming Lake to take the last bite of the prize."

"Once you take up the pen, you must write your name."

As the words fell, the first stroke of the third character on the final name marker on the lake surface slowly emerged.

end.

Just one horizontal line.

Shen Ye felt a sudden heaviness in his chest.

That horizontal stroke doesn't look like it's written on a monument.

It felt more like a weight was being placed on his life.

The outer anchors of Qin Wuji and the others lit up simultaneously.

Thunder, Sword, Sea, Thousand Autumns, Old Night—five anchor lights vibrated outside the lake.

But the rules deep within Shenming Lake still firmly hold that horizontal line down.

The second seatman raised the broken pen.

"If you don't draw your sword, I'll write it for you."

Shen Ye looked up.

"You can't replace me."

He took a step forward.

A black and gold short sword materialized in his palm.

The system prompted that the notification was triggered again.

[Risk increased.]

[The host's sword mark is being captured by the Broken Pen Rule.]

[Recommendation: Disable the "sword mark" and "stroke" detection.]

Shen Ye gripped his sword, but did not strike at the second seat.

He slashed at the lake surface beneath his feet.

The sword light fell.

The lake surface cracked open.

As soon as the crack appeared, the horizontal stroke of the character "终" on the gray-white memorial stone had to be filled in simultaneously.

The second seatmate said calmly:

"useless."

"In my lake, every trace can become a brushstroke."

Shen Ye said coldly:

"A trace is a trace."

"A stroke is a stroke."

The Night King's Book of Names is opened.

The black and gold pages unfolded behind Shen Ye.

The first line of new characters was forcibly branded onto it.

The sword mark is not a stroke of a brush.

The gray-white memorial stone suddenly trembled.

The horizontal stroke that was about to take shape stopped.

For the first time, the second seat's expression changed.

Shen Ye did not stop.

The second sword strike was unleashed.

This sword strike aimed at the reflection of the broken pen cast on the lake's surface.

Zhu Jiu opened his mouth at the same time.

The Netherworld unfolds, locking away the brushstrokes.

"Shadows are shadows."

"It's a name that's fitting."

Shen Ye pressed down with his sword.

[This work was not written by a ghostwriter.]

Click.

The shadow of the broken pen was cut short.

The second person's hand trembled slightly as the brush broke, and a drop of gray ink fell from the tip.

The moment the speck of gray ink fell into the lake, it transformed into countless tiny characters, frantically crawling toward Shen Ye's final name monument.

Night Feathers Cry Out.

The black sun and ghostly fire crashed down, burning the gray ink into blue smoke.

Shen Ye finished speaking his third sentence.

"The enemy's ink, does not bear my name."

The Night King's Name Scripture lights up again.

[The enemy's ink does not bear my name.]

The gray ink writing has crumbled.

The smile on the second seat finally faded.

"You are changing the rules of Shenming Lake."

Shen Ye said, "I'm taking your dirty hands off."

Long Yuan took a step forward.

It did not attack the second seat.

Instead, he punched the chains beneath the gray-white coffin.

boom!

The coffin chain vibrated.

From the depths of the lake's bottom stele forest, countless soft, cracking sounds echoed.

Those names that were once overshadowed by the second-place finisher are now beginning to shine.

a little.

Two points.

ten o'clock.

100 points.

Ten thousand afterimages looked up.

They broke their pens, but have retrieved them.

They no longer wait for a second ghostwriter.

The second seatmate looked towards the Stele Forest, his voice becoming somber.

"Shenming Lake has taken in 10,000 people."

"My act of ending their suffering is an act of mercy."

Shen Ye raised his sword.

"They didn't ask you for anything."

Jie Chen's Heavenly Punishment Eye on his forehead opened completely.

A gray-white lightning bolt shone on the broken pen.

Under the flash of lightning, Shen Ye finally saw clearly.

The real core of that broken pen was neither wood nor bone.

Instead, it was a section of black and gold pen tip.

The missing stroke at the top is the final stroke of the nameplate for the unknown beast.

It was suppressed by the Second Seat with the final intention of ten thousand names, hidden in the deepest part of the broken pen.

A system notification sounded.

[Target locked: A masterpiece.]

[Current sealing status: Broken Pen Burial End.]

[Solution Strategy: First, sever all power and influence, then establish a name and influence.]

The second seat also noticed Jie Chen's spying.

He raised his hand, and the broken pen flew across the sky.

A large, gray-white character pressed down on Shen Ye.

葬。

As the character for "burial" fell, the entire Shenming Lake began to sink.

Night Feather's fire dimmed for a moment.

The shadow of Zhu Jiu was pressed into the bottom of the lake.

Longyuan's arm bones cracked open.

The road patterns around Guixu were also submerged by the gray-white lake water.

The second seat's voice was icy.

"Since you're not going to write it."

"Then bury him."

Shen Ye's body sank, and his feet stepped into the lake water.

On his final memorial stone, the second stroke of the character "终" (end) begins to appear.

This stroke was even faster than the previous one.

Shen Ye looked up.

His eyes showed no sign of backing down.

"Scars are not the end."

He raised his hand, and drops of black gold royal blood from his palm fell onto the sword's edge.

This sword strike was aimed at the descending character "葬" (burial).

boom!

The character for "burial" was split into two.

A bloody gash exploded on Shen Ye's shoulder.

However, the second stroke on the final inscription was also forcibly cut off.

Turn the page of the Night King's Classics.

[The scars are not the end.]

The second seat's expression turned completely cold.

Break the pen and start again.

This time, he didn't write anything.

He drew a vertical line directly in the air.

As soon as the vertical line was formed, it pressed down from the sky like a coffin lid.

Shen Ye saw it.

This stroke is not for his name.

It is to write the name of the second seat holder.

As long as Shen Ye kills it, it will be equivalent to completing a stroke in the second seat's true name.

The second seat will borrow his sword to complete his own authority.

Shen Ye suddenly smiled.

"So you need a pen too."

The second seatman's gaze sharpened.

Shen Ye stepped forward.

The black and gold short sword vanished.

He actually loosened his grip on the sword.

The system is displaying a rapid beating signal.

[The host abandons the sword form.]

[The Myriad Beasts Divine Runes are being re-integrated.]

[WARNING: Close contact with the broken pen increases the risk of contamination.]

Shen Ye ignored him.

He extended his right hand.

The myriad beast divine patterns emerged from the palm of his hand.

Night Feather's black sun transforms into fire.

The Nine Netherworld Transformation of Candlelight Nine.

The Battle of Longyuan.

The heavenly punishment of the calamity transformed into lightning.

The boundary gate of Guixu has become a road.

Five intersecting lines transformed into a black and gold gauntlet.

The vertical stroke of the second seat is pressed down.

Shen Ye will not be killed.

He caught it.

boom!

The entire Shenming Lake suddenly trembled.

The second person's pupils constricted slightly.

"You dare catch the final pen with your bare hands?"

Shen Ye's palm was covered in blood.

But the vertical stroke failed to land.

"I'm not taking over your pen."

I'm holding your hand.

He clenched his fingers.

Guixu opened its mouth and fiercely bit the gray-white stroke behind the vertical stroke.

"No."

Click.

The pen strokes are broken.

The pen in the second seat broke, and for the first time, a thin crack appeared in it.

A glimmer of black and gold light peeked out from the crack.

A system notification sounded.

[The broken pen and the burial ceremony ultimately resulted in the loss of power.]

[Second Seat Authority Resolution: 61%...68%...75%]

[The final seal has loosened: 17%.]

At the bottom of the lake, countless fragmented names of steles resonated simultaneously.

They did not cheer.

He simply picked up his pen in silence.

It was as if they were waiting for Shen Ye to strike with his sword.

The second seatmate looked down at the crack on the broken pen.

He was not angry.

Instead, she slowly began to smile.

"Sword marks are not strokes."

"Scars are not the end."

"The enemy's ink will not bear your name."

He raised his head, and a hint of true coldness finally appeared in his gray-white eyes.

"And what about the shadow?"

The lake suddenly turned black beneath Shen Ye's feet.

His shadow was forcibly dragged out by Gray Ink.

The shadow standing on the lake looked exactly like Shen Ye.

In his hand, however, lay a broken, gray pen.

A system warning suddenly went off.

[Warning: The Second Seat has activated the Shadow Writing Service.]

[Objective: To write the host's final name using the host's shadow.]

The gray shadow raised its head.

The tip of the pen falls on the final inscription.

The first stroke has already begun.